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Although I’ll be first to throw my support behind the Dortmund fans and Liverpool fans (along with several other team’s supporters) for standing up against rising ticket prices, a part of me is jealous. I’m jealous that they grew up in a world where affordable ticket prices was ever a reality.

In America, affordable ticket prices have long since been replaced by expensive tickets more suited to business outings than fan enjoyment. That’s not saying there aren’t cheaper seats to be had at certain stadiums for certain games (as I’m sure there still are at Westfalenstadion and Anfield). However, the lion’s share of tickets for sporting events, especially in the dense Northeast, are expensive and over-priced. The supply and demand allows teams to consistently do this . In fact, each new stadium that is built in America sacrifices the regular fan’s enjoyment in order to benefit the wealthy private business owners who can shell out large amounts of money for seats they will rarely use and can conveniently put onto their company credit card as a business expense. The regular fan. The ACTUAL fan. Is not as valued as the wealthy businessman even though the regular fan is the rock on which a team is built. Without the regular fan the team loses it’s soul and without a soul the team’s become just another business meeting outlet, like a restaurant or strip club.

Therefore, I agree with these fans and I support their plight. I wish that American sports fans had been passionate enough to have fought against the rising tide of ticket prices. Instead we got swept away and now we are left soaking wet and our wallets bone dry. So kudos to you Liverpool fans, Dortmund fans, and all other fans fighting against the rising ticket prices. I hope for your sake your efforts make a difference.

The Reds went into their final Champions League group game in the 2004/05 season knowing they would either have to beat Olympiakos or, if the Greek side scored, beat them by at least two clear goals.

With Rafa Benitez‘s side faltering in the Premier League, they knew that staying in the competition was absolutely paramount. Little did they know that the game would become one of the most important, unforgettable matches in the history of the club.

After Jamie Carragher had a penalty appeal turned down, Sinama Pongolle’s cross was met by Nunez. Although the Spaniard’s header was saved by Antonios Nikopolidis, Mellor was on hand to rifled to ball home with 10 minutes remaining. The comeback was well and truly on.

A frantic finale saw further Liverpool penalty appeals waved away, before Gerrard produced one of his career-defining moments in the dying minutes.

Carragher’s intelligent ball found Mellor, who guided an equally thoughtful header towards Gerrard 25 yards out. The skipper caught his half-volley to perfection, and the ball flew into the corner to send Anfield into delirium. Gerrard virtually ran into the Kop crowd to celebrate.

“Oh You Beauty” – Pic: David Rawcliffe/Propagana

Liverpool saw out a few last nervy moments to book their place in the knockout stages, reigniting their season in the process. Little did they know that, against all odds, they would go on to win the Champions League that season.

It remains one of the most famous night in the history of Anfield

An unforgettable night in Anfield and in Steven Gerrard lore. What a ridiculous strike. It’s a shame he never got a Premier League title but he earned his Champions League title. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go watch this strike at least 50 times in the next hour.

A series of lighthearted photos that recreate infamous footballing
moments, with kids. We wanted to ask whether a game that has
increasingly courted controversy over the years, with ever growing
salaries and celebrity lifestyles, is still creating the right role
models for Britain’s youth to copy.

What an idea! This guy has been getting a lot of press for these photographs and he deserves it. He took these pictures to convey a certain message and I could care less what that message is. I just find it hilarious seeing young kids recreating these pictures. The top picture is definitely the Mario Balotelli recreation. The real picture was ridiculous when it happened and it makes sense seeing a child recreate it. At least if a child had done it he could have been excused for his childish behavior. Mario Balotelli is just a child who never grew up.

As you may have not realized in my previous posts I am a huge fan of Steven Gerrard. He is absolute class and a soccer LEGEND who deserves all of his accolades. He started to regress in his last season at Liverpool but his accomplishments can not be forgotten. He will absolutely dominate MLS. I don’t mean be too detrimental of MLS since the league does have a lot of talented soccer players. However, it is notably a step below the English Premier League and Steven Gerrard could still have competed in the English Premier League for a few more years in a lesser role so he should be one of the best MLS players as soon as he plays his first game. With his addition I would pencil in the LA Galaxy for the 2015 MLS Cup no question.

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One-club men do not exist. Not in the money-laden footballing culture that we live in today. This make Steven Gerrard’s accomplishments at Liverpool even more impressive. He consistently turned down moves to other clubs because he truly loved and truly believed in what he was a part of. Even more impressive is that Gerrard found the net 186 times. His role in the team changed drastically over the years, from a young-energy filled box to box goal-scoring machine, to a deep-lying playmaker that could ping the ball wherever he wanted. The transition was impressive as were his exploits at the club. Take some time and appreciate the 186 goals below:

Raheem Sterling is set to tell Liverpool he wants to leave the club in the summer when talks between the two parties resume this week, sources have told ESPN FC.

Multiple news outlets reported on Monday night that the England forward would inform club chiefs that he sees his future away from Anfield. Those reports came after a well-placed source told ESPN FC last month that Sterling will not sign a new contract at Liverpool as he waits to see what offers come his way this summer

Sterling’s agent Aidy Ward will meet Liverpool’s chief executive Ian Ayre on Friday to express Sterling’s desires, the reports say, and the player already told Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers in person before the 1-1 draw at Chelsea on May 10 that he wanted to leave, according to the BBC.

As a soccer fan I have seen how young talents, especially young English talents, are overvalued and fast-tracked way too quickly in their careers. The USMNT has a proclivity for this when in their rush to anoint the next big “savior of American soccer” they force young players such as Freddy Adu and Julian Green into the spotlight too early and end up doing irreparable damage to their careers (Jury is admittedly still out on Julian Green but recent events in his career have been worrisome). These actions are understandable. Finding the next young player is a lot cheaper then the transfer market and if the gamble pays off you have a stud who will be good for many years to come. It is no wonder that Liverpool are so protective of Raheem Sterling and why teams are so eager to sign him just like teams were with Martin Odegaard.

Young players, however, are very volatile. In fact, it is not just a problem with professional soccer players, since most kids that age are also volatile. At that age these boys are becoming men and the road to becoming a man is filled with many pitfalls. Some boys navigate it successfully while others fail miserably. That process is then magnified ten-fold when these boys are navigating that road as professional soccer players. Most boys their age can make one mistake and slip it under the rug whereas any mistake a professional soccer player makes is blown out of proportion. Take for example Raheem Sterling’s “hookah” fiasco. It is not a drug and many kids do it on occasion but because he is a high-profile soccer player he was vilified for it. It’s hard to go through life like that and it is even harder to go through life like that when you also have loads of stress on the training field and during games. All of this stress can ruin young players without proper guidance.

Brendan Rodgers has shown that guidance towards Raheem Sterling and the other young Liverpool players. He has protected them, given them guidance, and even put his career at risk by letting Raheem Sterling visit family in Jamaica during the middle of the season so that he could recoup both mentally and physically. Not many managers would do this for a young player especially when his team was struggling and needed all hands on deck. Most managers would just run the player into the ground regardless of age because they are just an asset that he bought to win games. At the end of the day Raheem Sterling does not know how cushy he has it. Liverpool is willing to pay him more than he’s worth and treat him with special care because they want him to succeed in a red shirt.

If Sterling goes to another squad like a Manchester City or Real Madrid he will just be benched and booed when he fails to perform. Gareth Bale is ten times the player Raheem Sterling is and he’s been thrown to the wolves at Real Madrid. Raheem Sterling, like all other players in professional soccer, is entitled to chase money and titles but he also should consider his career. He could still leave Liverpool in four years and be a a mature player with his entire career ahead of him. Therefore, he needs to take a step back and realize his development could be seriously stunted by a premature move. If he plays his cards right he has a long career ahead of him.